Sunday, August 29, 2010

Bob


"I Loved You First"

6" x 9" watercolor on Yupo paper

This is Bob.

Say hello!

You can call him Santana, too, if you want. But his name is Bob.

This is my husbands horse. If it's true that what is yours is mine and mine is yours then this is my horse. Mine because as the title suggests I loved him first.

Bob is an 8 year old Tennessee Walker. When he first made it to my in-laws farm he was just a young thing, all spindly and weird looking with legs all over the place. I nicknamed him Stilts.

Or Giraffe.

I'm an unapologetic nicknamer.

No one had very high aspirations for Santana. He had papers, sure, but also a luxating patella that guaranteed him a cush life of grass eating and little work.

From day one he was the most friendly horse I had ever met and since I'm scared of horses that's saying something. While everyone else thought he was cute or weird or whatever, I was falling in love with Santana Bob.

Finally, after a year or so, my husband began to love him, too. In fact, while visiting his parents on their farm, Jerry began working Bob, introducing him to the saddle and bit, arena and ring. Bob was a natural. He never caused trouble, never kicked or fought, and within two days Jerry had him saddled and was riding him around the arena teaching him left and right leg leads.

This is about the time when everyone else started loving Bob, too.

One Christmas Jerry's parents surprised him by giving him Bob. Now it's official! Bob is MINE!!! Oh, I mean, he's ours!

We don't live near the farm so we don't get to see Bob very often but when we are there we try to spoil him, ride him, and give him lots of love.

He's not lonely, though. My father-in-law is a fantastic horseman and in his retirement has been staying busy teaching horse riding lessons to skiddish women both young and old. He rides one of their horses, usually Scooterbug or Lacey, while the student rides, you guessed it, BOB.

Bob is a tall horse. Very tall. It's very intimidating to be up on his back thousands of feet in the air. But he's so calm, so sure of himself, so wonderful that Jim trusts his students up there on his back in the clouds.

He's Bob of LOVE!!!

(Oh, we got his knee fixed so now he's even more perfect.)

This painting was done on YUPO paper, achieving the funky texture by squirting the still wet watercolor with rubbing alcohol.

3 comments:

  1. He looks so friendly. I think I shall call him Santana too.

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  2. Bob is my husband's name, so of course, the name of this intrigued me. What a great painting you did of the gorgeous horse. Love the composition you did, with his face up close. And I love that you're doing more of the Yupo & alcohol technique - it's so interesting to look at.

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  3. Great picture and wonderful story about Santana - I mean Bob! Enjoyed it very much!

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